Chapter 5: Nightly “Agent,” Gaze from the Heavens
Alyssa and Stasha’s home, even by slum standards, was dilapidated, drafty, and patched together. But it was shelter.
However, when Stasha carried Luo Ling back, the house was in ruins, ransacked by thugs, their meager possessions gone.
Alyssa’s memories revealed they had acquired this house because of her role as the “Saint.” Even the daily bread, a luxury in the slum, which Stasha enjoyed, came from Alyssa’s position.
But not everyone could be the Saint.
Alyssa’s memories were incomplete, but the robed men’s were clear.
Only those with the “Forbidden Doll” aptitude could be the Saint.
“Forbidden Dolls” were ordinary people with an affinity for Grotesqueries. If they awakened, they would become Grotesque-side Awakened Ones.
A rare occurrence.
Besides a slightly better life, the Saint’s duty was to offer a part of herself as a sacrifice during the “Church of Light’s” rituals, led by the robed men, in exchange for the Grotesquery’s power, which was then given to the Church.
Outside of rituals, the Saint wasn’t allowed to work, confined to the dilapidated church, lest anything damage her “Forbidden Doll” aptitude.
Alyssa was allowed to go home only once a month, a concession she had won after threatening suicide. Otherwise, she wouldn’t even know if her sister was safe.
This imprisonment and sacrifice were unknown to outsiders.
And the price… was merely enough bread to survive and a barely habitable house…
But to others, the Saint lived a life of leisure, provided for, even her family benefiting, Stasha even able to attend school.
Although envious, they kept their resentment hidden.
Until the news of the Saint’s death.
While Stasha waited anxiously for her sister, thugs arrived, mocking her, ransacking their home, stealing everything.
The house was stripped bare, even their makeshift desk taken.
Stasha had only survived because the meager possessions were more valuable than a skinny, starving girl.
Terrified, she had gone to the church, searching for her sister.
Seeing the ruined house, Stasha panicked, afraid of upsetting her sister, then remembered Alyssa was blind.
“Sis… Sister… wait inside, I left our blanket out to dry, I haven’t brought it back yet.”
Impossible.
Alyssa couldn’t see, but Luo Ling could.
This devastation wasn’t something that could be hidden.
Even though Stasha hadn’t explained, Luo Ling understood.
The same people who had watched Alyssa being sacrificed without a word could now, without hesitation, ransack the home of their once revered Saint.
Those worthy of pity often had a hateful side, and those worthy of hatred often had a pitiful story. Luo Ling understood, but she couldn’t accept it.
“Never mind, it’s late. We’ll deal with it tomorrow,” Luo Ling said, pretending to be blind, feeling her way around the room and sitting on the only bed.
“Come and rest, Stasha.”
It was indeed uncomfortable not using the Puppet Ballad’s power to see and move.
“But…”
Stasha hesitated.
It was almost December, and although it wasn’t below freezing in Victoria, it was still only a few degrees above.
She could endure it, but her sister, always frail and sickly, would catch a cold…
And in this slum, with her sister’s weak constitution, a cold was practically a death sentence.
Stasha had planned to leave her sister inside and find something to cover them with, even a few newspapers would do.
“The Church gave us some spare blankets. They’re in the storage room, go and look,” Luo Ling said with a gentle smile.
“Huh?”
Stasha wanted to say that the thugs had ransacked everything, there couldn’t possibly be any blankets left.
But she didn’t want to worry her sister, so she nodded, planning to make an excuse later.
But to her surprise, when she entered the storage room, she saw a stack of neatly folded white blankets. They felt soft and warm to the touch.
“How…?”
Stasha was stunned, then heard her sister’s voice from outside.
“Didn’t you find them?”
“I… I found them…”
Stasha suppressed her shock, running her hand over the blankets again.
They felt like the luxurious blankets used by nobles, probably made of… silk or something.
But how could those stingy Church people give them something like this?
Although the Church had promised to take care of her because of her sister’s position as the Saint, it had only been the bare minimum.
They ate hard, black bread mixed with sawdust every day, hard enough to cut their lips, and everything else was either dilapidated or worn out, even the blankets they had received reeked, as if pulled from a ditch.
Stasha’s schooling wasn’t funded by the Church either. She worked in a factory and relied on the kindness of a few nobles to afford a basic literacy class.
“Then bring them out.”
Seeing Stasha’s shocked expression through her Spores, Luo Ling smiled slightly.
Of course, these blankets weren’t from the Church of Light, but woven from her mycelia.
Mycelia could take any form, whether clothing or bedding, and the quality was exceptional.
Forget silk, Luo Ling’s mycelia could be used as a material for crafting Sacred Tools, after all, it came from a High-Risk Grotesquery, incredibly valuable.
Besides the mycelia blankets, the walls, damaged by the thugs, had also been repaired by Luo Ling’s invisible mycelia, still looking dilapidated, but now incredibly sturdy.
These were… practical applications of the Puppet Ballad’s abilities…
Luo Ling felt that even the most terrifying abilities could be used for mundane purposes.
Since she didn’t suffer any side effects from using Grotesquery abilities, the applications she developed were becoming increasingly… everyday.
Watching Stasha carefully spread out the blankets, Luo Ling’s heart sank.
“It seems… I can’t leave just yet. If I do… Stasha will likely suffer.”
A vulnerable girl, alone and resented in the lawless slum… the consequences were predictable.
Today it was just their belongings, tomorrow… it could be much worse.
“All done, Sister. You can rest now. I want to read for a bit longer,” Stasha said, holding up a stack of tattered papers, her “books,” pieced together from old newspapers and handwritten notes.
“Okay.”
Luo Ling nodded and, with Stasha’s help, climbed into bed.
After settling her sister, Stasha sat by the window, carefully reading her “books” under the moonlight.
Luo Ling watched silently, invisible mycelia threads gathering at the window, amplifying the faint moonlight.
Stasha looked up, smiling at the moon, seemingly grateful for the clear night, or perhaps happy about her sister’s return.
No trace of sadness about their ransacked home.
Perhaps, to her, as long as her sister was here, this was home.
Luo Ling sighed inwardly.
“Such a heavy burden…”
She could only do so much, caring for this poor girl as Alyssa.
However, she couldn’t keep her consciousness here forever. Luo Ling thought for a moment, recalling some information about apostles and agents from Artist’s memories.
Artist was practically her encyclopedia of knowledge. Although he had destroyed most of his consciousness before dying, leaving Luo Ling with less than a tenth of his memories, there was still much useful information.
“Perhaps… I can try appointing an ‘agent’…”
Not Stasha, of course. Being an “agent” wasn’t a gift, whether for an ordinary person or an Awakened One, it wasn’t a good thing.
Unless they willingly wanted to be a Grotesquery’s minion.
However, Alyssa was dead, and her body, modified by Luo Ling’s Puppet Ballad abilities, and with her innate Grotesquery affinity, could possibly withstand the power of an agent.
But she wasn’t sure.
“It’s worth a try,” Luo Ling closed her eyes.
At the same time, ten kilometers away, the silver-haired girl opened her eyes, an indescribable pressure radiating outwards.
Even within the Kingdom, even with the Authority’s concealment, it couldn’t hide the terrifying will of the Sequence Forty-Nine Grotesquery.
Almost all High-Order Awakened Ones in Victoria looked towards the sky, a pair of pale gray eyes slowly opening, as if announcing its blessing to the world.
Alarms blared in the headquarters of countless organizations, signaling the arrival of a High-Risk Grotesquery incident.
However, the Kingdom wasn’t deactivated. No one could identify the true nature of this phenomenon, but some managed to narrow down the source.
The recently infamous High-Risk Grotesquery, the White Witch.
Few Grotesqueries could cause such a commotion, but none possessed the ability to conceal their presence like this, except for the White Witch, whose abilities were still unknown.
Everyone was speculating about her intentions, but no one realized that the White Witch’s actions were simply… to give a sister’s embrace, even if it was a fake one, to the girl she had come to care for.
Alyssa’s body also opened its eyes, its empty gaze turning a pale gray, her flaxen hair turning silver, then settling on a few highlighted streaks.
She had become the White Witch’s agent.
However, due to the host body’s weakness, the power Luo Ling could bestow was only equivalent to a Sixth-Order Awakened One, but it was still considerable.
Although there had been many High-Order Awakened Ones involved in the Jiangcheng County incident, that had been almost all the elites of that Boundary.
High-Order Awakened Ones, in any organization, even the massive Company, were high-ranking members, their salaries several times higher than Mid-Order Awakened Ones.
Because only High-Order Awakened Ones had the foundation to access Authorities, the main force against Grotesqueries… and other factions.
All the changes and commotion lasted for less than five seconds, then subsided.
However, the consequences… were far-reaching.
Countless workers were called in for overtime due to this sudden incident.
“Done.”
Luo Ling tested it. Even if she returned to her original form, it wouldn’t affect Alyssa.
And her consciousness could freely switch between the two bodies. Even if she didn’t want to be distracted by matters here, she could use Alyssa’s memories and emotions to imitate her actions.
“I didn’t expect that the ability that turned Jiangcheng County into a wasteland… could be used for good like this…”
Luo Ling couldn’t help but feel a sense of irony.
Did she have a talent for using any ability in strange ways?
Never mind, it wasn’t a bad thing.
“Sister?”
Stasha, by the window, seemed to sense something and turned to look at Luo Ling.
Seeing that her sister was still awake, a worried expression appeared on her face.
Had something happened at the Church that was keeping her sister awake…?
“I’m going to sleep now, you should rest too,” Luo Ling said, closing her eyes.
“Mm.”
Stasha hesitated, then closed her book.
It was rare for her sister to be home, it was okay to skip a day of reading…
She climbed into bed, the soft blanket unusually warm, making her drowsy.
In her hazy state, she felt as if her sister was watching her.
Strange, wasn’t her sister blind…?
Never mind, time to sleep.
Soon, soft snores escaped her lips.
Luo Ling withdrew her Spores’ vision, and the next moment, Stasha snuggled closer, burrowing into her arms.
“Sister, you smell so nice, nicer than before…”
Stasha nuzzled closer, her nose twitching slightly.
She seemed to be sleep-talking…
Luo Ling chuckled, but her heart felt heavy.
This was the first time anyone had called her “Sister”… although she knew Stasha’s real sister wasn’t her.
Just then, Luo Ling sensed something, closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, she was back in her room with Elsa.
A rapid knocking echoed from the door, pulling her consciousness back.
She glanced at Elsa, still fast asleep, a pang of envy at the girl’s ability to sleep through anything, then got up to open the door.
“Coming.”
Cen Xiangyun, her face filled with anxiety, practically bursting with panic, stood at the door, along with a sleepy Lu Manqing in her pajamas and nightcap, clutching a pillow.
Cen Xiangyun was about to exclaim, but Luo Ling pointed at the sleeping Elsa, and she quickly lowered her voice, her excitement still evident.
“Miss Luo Ling, something happened, something big!”
“What is it?”
Luo Ling frowned slightly.
“A High-Risk Grotesquery has appeared, right here in Victoria!” Cen Xiangyun whispered, looking around nervously. “Uncle Shaoheng sent word, all P7 and above personnel have to go back for a meeting!”
Before Luo Ling could reply, Lu Manqing, still half-asleep, rolled her eyes and mumbled,
“What’s the big deal, Xiangyun? You woke everyone up for this?”
“This… this isn’t a big deal?” Cen Xiangyun’s eyes widened. “This is a High-Risk Grotesquery, the same level as the Jiangcheng County incident!”
Luo Ling’s lips twitched. She knew what this was about.
It was probably the commotion from her appointing an agent.
Well, it was her fault.
So there was nothing to worry about…
“High-Risk Grotesqueries are terrifying, yes, but… what does it have to do with us?” Lu Manqing shrugged indifferently. “Are they asking you to fight it, or me to stop it? Even the Company said only P7 and above need to go back for a meeting. Let the higher-ups handle it. We might as well go back to sleep.”
Cen Xiangyun paused. Lu Manqing… had a point.
Why was she so panicked?
“She’s right, Miss Cen, you’re overreacting,” Luo Ling added.
Since she knew it was her fault, she also knew it wouldn’t amount to anything.
“Eh… really?”
Cen Xiangyun scratched her head, confused.
Was she being strange?
Even Elsa was sleeping soundly. She seemed to be the only one panicking.
“We still have a mission tomorrow, right? Let’s get some sleep, Miss Cen,” Luo Ling said.
“Beauty sleep, beauty sleep…”
Lu Manqing yawned again.
The late-night commotion ended with Cen Xiangyun’s confusion and self-doubt.
A silent night.
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